Producers of Animal Park did not tell Kate what she was about to see, handing the tear-jerking snaps to her in a mystery envelope

Producers of Animal Park — which launches at 9.15am on Monday on BBC1 and is available on iPlayer afterwards — chose not to tell Kate what she was about to see, handing the tear-jerking snaps to her in a mystery envelope.

Kate’s last on-screen encounter with Nico was in 2016 when she presented the silverback with a fruitcake for his 55th birthday.

She said: “He’s a bit greyer than when I last saw him — every bit as fiesty. I’d have expected him to be a little bit creakier, but physically he looks in very good shape.”

Nico lived at Longleat for 32 years in his own centrally-heated home, where he even watched TVIn another Animal Park meeting, Kate, who co-hosts with Ben Fogle, scolded “old charmer” Nico for cheekily trying to pinch her bum.

Nico lived at Longleat for 32 years in his own centrally-heated home, which even included a TV, which he watched most days.

I should have signed him up as a guest columnist.

This video of a baby gorilla laughing while being tickled is the cutest thing you’ll see all day